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Confusion over withdrawal

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Meganpooch
Meganpooch

Hello all my good cyber friends.

Day 2 of withdrawal passed. Dropped from 1200mg to 900mg as Doc refused to taper it more reasonably.

I have been reading some experience on another site and wondered if anyone could give me some clarification. I found out that the half life (how long Gabapentin stay in the body for) is relatively short at 5-7 hours (Prozac is 3 months).

Some people say you only get withdrawal symptoms after taking your last ever dose - is this correct? or may i get symptoms as my dose is dropping?

Magnesium supplements have been mentioned a lot. I know it cannot be taken within 2 hours of taking Gabapentin but some say it helps to smooth the process of coming off this drug whereas others say only to take it after your final dose. Either way has anyone found this to be of benefit? And what form of Magnesium? There are so many.

Thanks in advance

0 likes, 17 replies

17 Replies

  • jimbourg8
    jimbourg8 Meganpooch

    Posted

    I believe you are still going to get withdrawal syndrome somewhat  while you are down-dosing.  It's going to take a long time.....it depends on how long you have been doing the 1200 mg daily.  If you have been taking it for 4 years  for instance,  a rule of thumb to safely wean yourself off would be probably 4 months minimum.  In my case I had been taking between 600 mg to 1200  Gab. daily for 4 years.  In the last 3 weeks I've gotten down to just one 300 mg capsule per evening..... and I am feeling very much  better for sure. But I have also been taking Klonopin for 4 years a dose between .5 and 1 mg...........now for 3 weeks I am down to .25 mg of klonopin......i am taking it very slow.....so in perhaps another week or 2 will try to down dose again on both of them....or take every other day at that point.....listen to your body.....if you go too quickly you will get a rebound adverse effect....and will have to back off a bit......slowly is the key and stick with your determination to follow it through.  The half-life of Gaba. is as you had said but it's not just a  simple matter of 1/2   then 1/2   day by day and then you think its all gone from your body.........it's your brain that is reacting to the lack of the drug that causes the side effects (my understanding from what I have read from the experts on this subject). It's trying to adjust back to normal. It took a while to get it in this so-called toxic state....so it's going to take a while to get it back to normal again....make sense ?

    • Meganpooch
      Meganpooch jimbourg8

      Posted

      Yes - that makes perfect sense. The brain will be getting less Neurontin and will take time to adjust (it was the same with Prozac when i unsuccessfully tried coming off that). I have only been on 1200mg since the end of May this year and started the whole Gabapentin process in Nov 2015 so not even a year yet.

      I will listen to my body but it does scare me that after my last dose i could get some nasty side effects. The doc suggested dropping in 2 weekly doses. I personally think i will take it slower than that.

      Do you use Magnesium?

      Thank you for your informative reply, it's greatly appreciated.

    • Beowolf
      Beowolf Meganpooch

      Posted

      Personally I think you are going down way too fast. The expert opinion is about 10% a month. But the problem with this drug is that it everybody react differently to it. I have been 2100 on Gaba for 1 year, then I started my tapering. I went down from 2100 to 100 mg 3 times a day in about 2 months. Big mistake. It started with unbearable itching on my extremeties, I scatced myself at night so my bed was bloody in the morning. Of course, I woke up several times a night, and I could only get a little sleep with too many sleeping pills. And horrible restlessness, anxiety, depression, etc. I reinstated to 600 mg at night, 300 in the morning and afternoon and 300 in the afternoon. It took a week before I felt like normal again. The sleeping pills also is a bad idea. Then you have to deal with that withdrawal later. I have however witdrawed from years of valium use before, but Gaba is a lot worse. Probably because of the short half life. I think the only way to do it is a very slow taper. Even if it takes a year to get off it, it might be worth it.  
    • jimbourg8
      jimbourg8 Beowolf

      Posted

      I absolutely agree with you  on  very slow tapering off.  It's better to err on too slow than too fast. 

    • jimbourg8
      jimbourg8 Meganpooch

      Posted

      It appears to me that Gaba. is going to take some time to completely come off of ! As I mentioned before I was up to 1200 mg/day for 4 years.  And I had just recently come down (about 2 weeks now)  to 300 mg/day.  I am feeling some of the rebound adverse effects the last few days i.e. headach, sore neck, jitteriness, irritablility......so now I'm thinking I will have to "updose" maybe back up to 600 mg/day for a week or two and then go back to 300 mg/......it's like a trial and error situation since we are all different in that respect.  As far as the magnesium thing....I don't put much faith in supplements overall.....that's a whole different ballgame since the vitamin industry is "unregulated"  we don't really know what is in those supplements or how much of any given substance actually in the pill thus  that is an unknown.....so not doing it.

      Bye the way........did you ever succesfully come off of prozac ?  Or still on it...and if on it now  do you notice any adverse effects ? (if you got off of it...what were the side effects on tapering off of it ? ) I say this because I was a former Paxil user for 15 years and got off of that 5 years ago.

    • Meganpooch
      Meganpooch Beowolf

      Posted

      The problem Torkill is that the doc refuses to give me any other capsules than the 300mg ones i am on so dropping by 300mg is my only option unless i get severe side effects in which case i shall go back and tell him 'i told you so'. It is tricky to know what are the side effects of Gaba alone as i already have depression, balance problems, daily headaches due to a misaligned spine, insomnia and restlessness. I was taking Gaba for the painfor  a trapped nerve in my foot and that has wasted no time in returning. 

      I was hoping the nasty vertigo attacks had gone until i had one today.

    • jimbourg8
      jimbourg8 Meganpooch

      Posted

      i  just tried this today  since right now I only have 300 mg/ gaba capsules.

      I  twisted this capule open (yes... it works to do that ! ) and emptied 1/2 of it out  and put the cap. back together and then took it....so approx 150 mg of gaba.  You could also mix part of it with some applesause or yogurt since it is so bitter........that is a quick way to downdose....try it .

    • Meganpooch
      Meganpooch jimbourg8

      Posted

      Hi

      As i've put in my reply to Torkill, i suffer with a lot of symptoms that mimic the side effects of Gaba as in balance problems. I did not have vertigo or anxiety attacks however before starting this drug. Headaches are a daily occurence for me and so are the various strengths of painkiller to get rid of them. This has been the case for many a year.

      Fair enough re the supplements. I might ask at my pharmacy about magnesium.

      Sadly i didn't ever come off Prozac. The reactive depression is very much still in evidence. I dropped from 40mg to 30mg to 20mg but had to go back up to 30mg due to life events. I've been on it now for nearly 8 years so adverse effects are rare now. There is no way i would go back up to 40mg though as it made me feel like a zombie.

      I was hoping the spinning sensations of vertigo were behind me until this evening when another one struck but it gave me a bit of advance warning which is a first. 6 days in on my reduction to 900mg and so far not too bad.

    • Meganpooch
      Meganpooch jimbourg8

      Posted

      My Prozac is liquid so i can taper off at much more gradual doses than i can with Gaba.
    • Jeshuaschild
      Jeshuaschild Meganpooch

      Posted

      The severe vertigo for me ended me up in ER four days in then again towards end of detox

      In between they were treating me for benign positional vertigo and gave me exercises that seemed to help

    • Meganpooch
      Meganpooch jimbourg8

      Posted

      That is how i've been taking mine for the last 10 months - yucky taste. Difficult to get a half dose though - i find there is more in one half than the other but it's certainly an option even if it's not an exact dose.

       

    • Meganpooch
      Meganpooch Jeshuaschild

      Posted

      Tonight was the 1st major episode for about 4 days. If the Gaba isn't causing it then i want to know from my doc why he didn't investigate it when i saw him last week!

    • jimbourg8
      jimbourg8 Meganpooch

      Posted

      Hey there,

      You know Geof, I wish you could believe that you could get off ALL the Drugs at some point.  That is my personal deisire for myself.  The fact that you indicated you have not been able to get off Prozac for the 8 years is very troubleling as well as the Gaba.  Those two potent drugs definitely seem to be interacting in a bad way on you.  Headaches, and dizziness are two big ones for those drugs.....Imagine this.....you are taking those simultaneously and of couse the effects are even more prominent because of that........when you  do an internet search on the side effects of both meds......the adverse indications are just astounding. I got off of 15 years of using Paxil  and am now drug free from that for 5 years.......it's a tough course to follow thru with.....but I did it........I'm still on my own detox program from Gaba. and Klonpin right  now..........I'm feeling much much better after 4 weeks of a gradual down doseing.........but I still have a ways to go.........and Im taking is very very slow.........it may take several monlths but I am prepared to follow to the end........I'm so impressed and happy at the results so far.........my mind is clearer, not so jittery or nervous, or agrressive, or manic, or dizzy, my coordination is better....etc...etc..etc....I noticed all these improvments......taking it one day at a time and watching closely.........Regareds....Jim

  • jimbourg8
    jimbourg8 Meganpooch

    Posted

    If you want , I can give you the titles of a book or two I have read recently on this subject of psychiatric medications and the very serious adverse effects associated with them  (most of the drugs we all are inclined to take...and urged to consume by the medial establishment)......written by  a very knowledgable psychiatrist who advocates getting off  these drugs .....not keeping us on them.....  if you want I will send via the private message here........just let me know........Good luck 
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